The statement linked here is not entirely clear, which is a shame because from what I can gather the attempt of Dalit activists to assert their own cultural identity in creative ways that open space for others to do the same has been met with litigation and hostility.
Basically though, Dalit activists: Thol Thirumavalavan, writer Meena Kandasamy and a Kolkata-based publisher, are being sued for expressing opinions on the origins and development of a religious myth. They claim it originates among the indigenous Dalits while their detractors claim the deities discussed in the myth are Hindu and that any suggestion otherwise is offensive and will incite violence.
It's incredible but this logic continues. Narendra Modi and L K Advani have both suggested previously that violence against minorities is 'understable' considering the offence they give in their views.
Right wing Hindutva extremists want put up with any mythology rooted in India that they cannot claim exclusively as theirs to define and control. The process of co-opting or sublimating Adivasi and Dalit cultures and communities has been going on for decades. It was M. N. Srinivas who coined the phrase "Sansktrisation" to describe this process.
The Hindutva idealogues have learnt much from their colonial masters - the British Empire - in forcibly colonising cultures as well as land and mechanics of power.
It's ironic that Dalit Christians and Muslims are tarred as 'foreign' when they do so much to defend Dalit culture against the invasion of Hindutva hegemony.
I look forward to seeing how this case progresses but I hope more detail will be given so those of us outside of that context can make more sense of it.
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